Project Life Tuesday: Week One 2016

Sorry if the lighting isn't fantastic. I waited till the last minute and most of my natural light was gone. Still doing really well on 2016. All the pictures are organized and ready to print, sticky notes are in place telling me what stories and which pictures go where. It's been pretty easy so far sticking to my plan and I really REALLY hope it stays that way.

My "week one" runs January 1st -3rd 

 This makes the week count a little off at the end of the year, but it works for me. 

Page One:

I organize my cards mostly by color and buy a lot of mixed lots...so I rarely know where anything comes from. The little boom box is a Studio Calico stamp and it's one of my favorites. The picture of hubby and I is an extra from our family pictures I used for my title page. It didn't work out there, but I had to include it. Three of the pictures on this page were snagged from my husband's phone. It's nice to have another person taking pictures.  

Page Two:

My father and I spent a night out eating BBQ and looking at Christmas lights. We drove through a neighborhood which is SO super busy during December, but not so busy January 1st, even though a lot of the houses were still decked out. The Star Wars lawn was my favorite. Our family also had the last of our FIVE Christmas celebrations. 

I think I did a good job of keeping it simple. Once all the pictures were in the protectors I think it took all of 15 minutes to complete, if that. It really feels good to simplify things this year.

Project Life Tuesday: 2016 Title Page

I'm going to be honest. White I have all the pictures printed for 2014, I'm not done with book two. 2015? Still on March. But I'm still plugging away...I have a good rotation and I'm getting those photos out of my computer and all our stories told. I'm slow, but I love it.

So far this year I've managed to stay on top of things. I clear our phones and cameras every Sunday. I check Facebook and Emails for important updates and add them to my super duper PL planner and I get to work. 

Here is my 2016 Title Page

Pretty simple and I enjoyed digging through my stash for the perfect cards. I think I have a mix of Elle's Studio, Freckled Fawn and Studio Calico. I know the W is an ancient find from Michaels.

My game plan for staying on top Project Life this year is to keep it SIMPLE. 

• I don't need to use EVERY picture I take. 
• I don't need to use ALL the things on every page. (Those can be saved for traditional layouts)
• I'm going to try and stick to Design A. In past years I've mixed it up and while I LOVE the look and I find it fun to work with the different layouts, sticking to this ONE should simplify things.

I know January tends to be my lazy month and then everything picks up and gets crazy, but hopefully I can keep on top of things. Would love to hear how other Project Life Scrappers stay current. 

Throwback Thursday and a Deep Freeze

I  have joined a no buy challenge for all things scrappy. It's mainly for the month of October, but some (me included) are going into a deep freeze. My goal is to not buy anything scrapbook related (other than prints and maybe adhesive) for 3 months.

I have a pretty large stash of stuff that I haven't looked at in forever. After having Munch, I moved away from traditional scrapbooking and into digital, but kept all my old goodies. Then when I started Project Life, I started buying stuff again. I usually just buy a little at a time, but it's added up. 

So NO shopping until January. 

My first layout of the month fits well with Throwback Thursday. .The papers are a good 8 years old and the picture is of my sister and I in the 80s. 

It's fun looking through my photos and searching my hoard of supplies for the perfect items to use. I'm really looking forward to getting everything down to a more manageable level. I'm going to reevaluate in January and if I can, I would love to go six months. 

Project Life Tuesday: Munch Edition

Lately, Munch has been completely fascinated by my Project Life albums and all my supplies. He's been begging to let him help. Instead I grabbed an "extra" album out of my stash and gave it to him. We went through my left over photos that I had copies of or ones that just didn't make the cut.

He decided to start with some 6x8 layouts and had so much fun going through my stash for the perfect embellishments.

 I told him it's important to put the date and maybe write about the picture. We got one page journaled. The rest I need to find tags for.

He used up EVERY candy corn sticker I had!
 

This one he used a tag he took off his new Batman jacket. He was so thrilled with the idea of reusing something for his book.

He's grown up so much since these pictures were taken. I love that he's interested in scrapping with me, because it's so nice to have a scrapping buddy.

Project Life: Weeks 14 and 15

These next couple weeks seem more simplified than previous spreads. Kinda loving them and it's more of what I've been doing with more current spreads too.

Week 14

Didn't take a detail shot, but the insert is our Color Run numbers. 

page one:

This week we took walks filled with wishes, Gandalf took a trip to the vet because he was feeling poorly, we had long talks about the beach and taking medicine and we baked some cookies. I've realized that I seem to have a big collection of the sky from my walks/runs. I've been playing around with the idea of doing something with them, not sure what though. 

page two:

We did The Color Run for the second year in a row. It was probably twice as crowded, which made it a little less fun, but we still had a blast AND we got to stay longer this year because no one was sick. Yay!

Week 15

I didn't take pictures of them but you can see the insert I included with the boys' hand-prints from class. I really need to do some updated ones with them soon. Love including their little hands in this project. 

page one:

The This Week card is from Studio Calico I believe. It wouldn't stay in the pocket so I added some washi to secure it. We had a pretty relaxed week this week. I wasn't feeling 100% so Munch made me "chicken soup" in his McDonald's kitchen and Nox refused to take a nap and ended up falling asleep on the couch.

page two:

More easy days. Munch found a recipe in his Highlights magazine and we managed to find the ingredients to a similar recipe I had and whipped up Banana Berry Muffins. Munch loved helping me bake....but refused to try even a tiny bite. I love watching the boys look out my bedroom window in the morning. The soft light that enters the room makes me so happy. I won a couple goodies from Jonathan over at Napkin Art Studios. 

Finished off this week with ice cream covered faces. 

Today I am linking up with The Mom Creative:

AND with Avinash and Nadini

Project Life 2013: Weeks 12 and 13

This weekend I got close to the rest of my 2013 pictures printed. Just need to print December! I still need to work on journaling, but once the photos are in place the rest just seems to get completed super quickly. So YAY!

Warning this is a photo heavy post, but I really wanted to get back to sharing 2 weeks at a time.

Here is week 12:

page one:

I'm pretty sure most of the cards I used for this week are from the Honey kit. My favorite part of the first half of this week was painting with the boys. They did a couple canvases that we now have hanging in our living room AND Munch helped me paint some Project Life filler cards. I included one along with a picture of the others. It was a great way to use up the extra paint.

insert:

right: The boys decorated cameras in their Mommy and Me class so I HAD to include them. I was lucky enough to get a couple of  cute pictures to add that weekend.

left: Selfies by Munch and some of Nox's first photos.

note: I also included an insert of our racing bibs from The Firefly Run, but didn't get pictures. 

page two:

right: Visit from Papa and Nana; LOVE the pictures I got of Nox and Papa. And a Lego build. 

center: John and I did The Firefly Run. It was damp and cold, but we had a blast. There were a few people that didn't get into the spirit, but so many were covered in neon and glow sticks. Looking forward to doing this race again. 

left: My husband's (and mother's) company puts on a Easter picnic every year and we went. It was so much colder than we had expected, but it didn't bother us. We had a blast doing the egg hunts and riding the rides. 

detail:

This is my FAVORITE part of the page. My Publisher sells these tiny photo books. There are twenty pictures in this one, which was PERFECT for the rest of the pictures I took at the company picnic. They go on sale every so often and so I just waited until a sale. I think I paid about $3 (including shipping) for 2 copies. 

and week 13:

page one:

This week was filled with giggles, a new Easter dress from my husband, an Easter egg hunt in class and me making a House Sigil, cause it's fun to pretend you are an important House in Game of Thrones. 

insert one:

Chickens the boys painted in class. 

insert two:

Our Easter morning. The boys got some fun baskets from the bunny and had their third (of FOUR) egg hunts. My mother had brought over a ham pie the day before so I had to eat a slice for breakfast.

We were totally that family that waited until Easter morning to decorate eggs. Queen of Procrastination, right here.

page two:

The rest of our Easter Sunday was spent at my mother's house with my sister and brother in law. The boys had their final egg hunt and we played in the back yard. 

Nox passed out on the floor almost the second we got home. 

I'm linking up with The Mom Creative

Project Life: Week 11

Please forgive the pictures today. I hurried through them while Munch was in class. :o/

I went with a green theme for this week and really like how it turned out. 

page one:

The date card this week is a photo of the play room...which I thought looked pretty bad when I printed it, but it's actually a lot cleaner than usual. Munch took a fantastic photo of Nox and I. It's totally one of my favorites. Another favorite from this part of the week is the awesome drawing Munch did of Jack and his friends from Nightmare Before Christmas. It's for sure one of our favorite movies.

insert one:

We went to the zoo this week with my father and sister. It was the boy's first ride on a train, so I used an insert just for the trip. The right side are all pictures Munch took. Pretty sure the journal card is from Jade...also pretty sure it's one of the main reason I got the kit...because I liked that card so much.

insert two:

The Zoo!! We had so SO much fun and the weather was just perfect. We really need to go back soon before it gets hot again. 

insert three:

Some drawings Munch did this week. (Which reminds me, my later pages have started slacking on adding their art work. I need to fix that.) I was really impressed that he remembered how to spell "ZOO" the day after we went. The picture on the right is so happy and lovely...it's funny to think that when he drew it Munch was in one of worse moods. I need to add little notes to both of these. 

page two:

St. Patrick's Day! Usually I get more pictures and more in the spirit, but this year I just wasn't feeling it. I didn't make a traditional Corn Beef and Hash...and totally made green mashed potatoes instead. We had fun though. It's always nice when Gigi comes for dinner. 

I am linking up with The Mom Creative!

Project Life : Week 10

Week 10 was my 34th birthday week :o)

Page One:

I finally got a after picture of our master bedroom so I had to include a picture of it here. It's really my favorite room in the house...when it's not the chaotic mess that it currently is. Kaiser got to enjoy a left over jar of peanut butter, which was super fun to watch. This week Nox was firmly attached to a Sonic toy, aka drink guy and we fit in a glorious walk. 

Insert One:

Munch drew a super fun picture of "Bat-Daddy", a character he came up with all on his own. That night during song time he demanded John sing a song about Bat-Daddy. It's now a fairly common request. On the flip side I included some instagrams and a story about Munch. 

Insert Two:

Birthday day stuff. I celebrated my "Hobbit coming of age birthday" and I loved the Gandalf quote included in my Tolkien card from my father. I decided to go on a 7 plus mile run as a gift to myself. SO proud of myself for completing my planned run. Even if it knocked me out for a chunk of the day and caused an injury which meant no running for over a month :o/ That night my mother. sister and brother-in-law went out to dinner with us. We all had a blast. 

Page Two:

 Side one is from our day date into Ft Worth. We had fun shopping at a craft fair, flea market and antique mall. Lunch was at an awesome seafood restaurant. Side two is all a little birthday party the boys wanted to have for me since we didn't have cake at my dinner party. Munch had to take pictures of his food. True child of a blogger. 

I am linking up with The Mom Creative!

Project Life: Week 7

A little late on my posting today, but I got it up!  I really should starting sharing two weeks at a time again, but whatever works right?

page one:

 The tooth themed goodies are from a freebie digi kit I got a while back Toothless, by Brine Designs.
Pretty normal week, Nox and I went to the dentist, the garbage man came, my sister surprised us with a visit. My fur babies looked cute. Ya know...the norm. :o)

page two:

Mostly used blues and reds on this page. The Valentine's card and heart card are from Studio Calico from a mixed lot I bought. We had a Valentine's party at the boy's class, date day that Saturday and poor sick boys by Sunday. I really kinda love how this page turned out. 

I'm linking up with The Mom Creative. 

Project Life: Week 6

Went with an orange and blue theme for this week. Really love how it turned out. 

The smile card is from a studio calico card set I got a while back. It was one of those cards I had been holding onto and finally used it. The B&W shot is one of my favorites of Nox and just a happy accident. He ran into the shot while I was trying to get a PL layout photographed. :o) I also included my reason for doing PL. Love it when my kiddos enjoy the albums. 

insert side one:

This is a little blurb about a magazine interview I did regarding my weight loss. (If you are interested you can read my favorite post about my journey: HERE). I am still sure the interview happened with someone else and I was just lucky enough to listen in....

insert side two:

We didn't do anything special this year, but we always try to do something for Chinese New Year. I added a little digi page about our evening. 

page two:

This spread is a We R Memory Keepers protector. It fits 4x4 pictures which is awesome for instagrams. I kinda love it. Makes it so much easier. We had a pretty normal week so it was nice to be able to put it together quickly. 

I'm linking up with The Mom Creative:

Project Life: Week 5

I've decided to go ahead and stop sharing my 2012 album...now that we are coming near the end of 2013.

I previously shared weeks 1-4, so here is week 5! I went with a green and blue theme for the week. 

Forgive the pictures. Cell phone isn't the best, but it was quick and easy :o)

 It was an easy, low activity week for us. Munch had a teeth cleaning and we hung out at home building legos and snuggling our pup. I don't add current events that often in my PL album, but Pope Benedict resigning was worth a mention. 

Page Two:

My husband very kindly gave me a weekend all to myself. He took the boys out to his father's land and I stayed home. I have a spot open for him to journal, but forgot to leave a space for me to talk about the weekend! I might have to find a spot. It was just a wonderful gift to have alone time. I love my family, but I cherish moments I have to myself at home too. I'm so lucky to have a husband that understands that and works with me when I need it. 

I'm linking up with The Mom Creative!